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BlabPredicts2 predicts future social media conversation

Blab, a predictive social intelligence provider, in April released BlabPredicts2, which is the second version of its software that monitors social media to enable real-time marketing. The company launched its platform in 2013 with several million dollars in angel investment funding.

The tool strives to show marketers and social media managers what people on the Web will be talking about 24, 48 and 72 hours in advance of that conversation. The platform also predicts the volume of conversation and the media channels in which that conversation will happen -- YouTube versus news outlets versus Twitter. The platform analyzes text, video, blogs and other online sources. Blab doesn't just search keywords but uses algorithms that shift according to the nature of the conversation. It can join concepts quickly that suddenly become linked, such as Donald Sterling, NBA and racism.

"Blab will say, 'This is just a three-hour news blip and will die off; don't worry about it,'" said founder and CEO Randy Browning. "Or, 'Hey it's going to move from the news world to the blog world in 24 hours, then in 30 hours it's going to hit the social world and everyone's going to be talking about it.' Now you have a path to change your marketing strategy."

Blab provides a confidence rating associated with these predictions and Browning says that overall, the company claims a confidence rating of 70% for predictions.

Blab also seeks to democratize data analysis and prides itself on intuitive visualizations that present data in a viewer-friendly way rather than via spreadsheets.

"We've taken social intelligence out of the analyst backroom and we've made it available to every marketer on the frontlines so they can make informed decisions," said Browning. "It gets foresight into the hands of marketers, not just analysts."

Genesys teams up with Zendesk on scalable customer service for SMBs

Genesys, a customer service and call center solutions company, announced a partnership with customer service provider Zendesk on Monday, unveiling an alliance to integrate Genesys' cloud contact center solution with Zendesk's customer service platform.

The agreement enables Genesys -- which provides communication and channel management as well as self-service and voice applications -- to use Zendesk's trouble ticketing and customer service platform. The aim is to provide a consistent customer experience across multiple channels such as email, social media or a company website, according to Reed Henry, Genesys' chief marketing officer.

Henry said that Genesys is starting with voice applications and planning to introduce other channels later. The company will roll out its Business Edition, which can support up to 1,000 agents, in a later phase. Its Premier Edition, representing the first phase of the plan, is cloud-only. The Business and Enterprise offer cloud or on-premises options.

Another objective of the deal is to enable scalable customer service, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses, so that more than 15 agents can help customers on the phone simultaneously via more sensitized routing.

With a beta release of its Internet marketing referral program service in early May, Whopath strives to promote transparency in Internet marketing. The programs give marketers tracking tools to ensure that they are attracting customers interested in a company's products and services, not simply traffic on company websites. The goal is for affiliates to receive larger payouts per purchase, advertisers to pay only when purchases are made and customers to be targeted and reached more naturally.

In six months, Whopath has built a Web tracking service for referral programs to benefit businesses of all sizes. Whopath differentiates itself by using a simple URL parameter for referral tracking instead of redirect links. With this system, the advertiser picks up more inbound links and marketers can offer more trustworthy links to customers.

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